New garage poses parking questions

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A new downtown Austin parking garage is stirring up an old controversy.

The garage will be on 9th Street between Neches and Trinity, across from the First Baptist Church.
The builders boast it will be open to customers of nearby businesses, including several nightclubs.
But some nearby customers say the extra parking isn’t necessary.

"It's difficult enough with the traffic coming downtown, then you have to pay for a parking spot,” said Robert Flake, who frequents restaurants in the area.

"If [city officials are] really serious about having the downtown be viable… I think the parking problem is one of the biggest difficulties,” said Flake.

Cory Nunez manages a nearby bar. He said, "I think there should be a cap on the price because it would help all the small businesses downtown."

Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell said parking is a small part of curbing the city’s growth and transportation problems.

“Of course you got to realize, it's not just parking spaces, there are other ways to skin that cat,” said Leffingwell.

The mayor said city officials are making plans to take a more active role to revamp parking.
“Potentially, we could convert other parking garages downtown to be a part of this enterprise that would be city owned and operated,” he said.

In the meantime, the city will replace meters with more modern meters that even take credit cards.
The revamp will start off of Congress Avenue, with an official kickoff on July 17th.